In Brief
Brigadier Nalin Kumar Bhatia was not empanelled for promotion to Major General despite scoring 89.67% and 90.47% marks under the Army's quantified promotion policy, which allocates 91 marks for Confidential Reports and only 5 for subjective value judgment. The Supreme Court held that Article 16 guarantees the right to fair consideration for promotion in accordance with established policy. The Selection Board cannot deny promotion solely on subjective judgment when an eligible officer achieves high quantified marks and is the only candidate of his batch. The Court allowed the appeal and directed reconsideration strictly by the promotion policy, rejecting arguments that military discretion is beyond judicial review.
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